Rick Newman

11 Countries That Make America Look Good

Tweet Share on Facebook July 27, 2011 Comment (8)

If you're down on America, you've got a lot of company.

The U.S. economy is supposed to be recovering from a brutal recession, but instead we're stuck in a long rut of high unemployment and declining living standards. The politicians in Washington whose job is to make America better seem to be doing the opposite, arguing incessantly, accomplishing little, and wallowing in dysfunction. The mushrooming national debt—and the ineptitude of the government's stewards—could soon cause a downgrade in the nation's AAA credit rating, which would be the first ever. No wonder twice as many Americans feel their nation is on the wrong track as feel it's heading in the right direction.

Tags:: deficit and national debt,; Congress

What Debt Ceiling Negotiators Can Learn From the NFL

Tweet Share on Facebook July 26, 2011 Comment (3)

There are times when the owners of the National Football League's 32 teams seem like the exclusive members of a billionaire-crybaby club: Their players are too demanding. The networks that televise their games are too controlling. The fans expect all kinds of unreasonable amenities.

Tags:: deficit and national debt,; Congress,; democratic party,; sports,; NFL,; republican party

How Elites Could Profit From a U.S. Debt Crisis

Tweet Share on Facebook July 22, 2011 Comment (8)

Have you developed a hedging strategy to protect against America's rapid decline? Or repositioned your portfolio to take advantage of orphaned Treasury securities? Or stashed some cash so you can buy distressed assets from the newly bankrupt?

Tags:: deficit and national debt,; Congress,; Eric Cantor,; economy

How a Debt Downgrade Would Harm America

Tweet Share on Facebook July 21, 2011 Comment (5)

For the last few years, a cut in the credit rating of the mighty United States has seemed like a distant possibility that we didn't need to worry about just yet. Well, the distant future is about to arrive.

Tags:: credit,; deficit and national debt,; Congress,; Barack Obama

4 Lessons From the Demise of Borders

Tweet Share on Facebook July 20, 2011 Comment (6)

There's a moment of passing sadness when familiar brands die, yet we're getting used to it. The turbulent economy of the last few years has claimed prominent names such as Circuit City, KB Toys, Hummer, Hollywood Video, Saturn, Mercury, and many others. An even greater number of well-known companies declared bankruptcy, shed debt, reorganized, and emerged from Chapter 11 to give it another try. Some will make it. Others will fail again.

Tags:: bankruptcy,; books

How Obama Blew a Big Debt Deal

Tweet Share on Facebook July 19, 2011 Comment (120)

If there's one rational man in Washington, it appears to be Barack Obama. The president casts himself as a leader among dilettantes, an executive intent on governing rather than picking political fights or sniping at the competition. He's getting a lot of help from Republicans like Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Eric Cantor, who are starting to seem like petulant narcissists who crave a crisis because it keeps their names in the news. Foes like them make it easy to seem statesmanlike.

Tags:: Mitch McConnell,; deficit and national debt,; Congress,; Eric Cantor,; Medicare,; democratic party,; Barack Obama,; social security,; republican party

Who to Blame for the Debt Fiasco

Tweet Share on Facebook July 15, 2011 Comment (69)

It's everybody's fault.

That's what ordinary Americans must think as they try to understand the self-inflicted debt crisis that threatens to sink the U.S. economy. The national debt is big and problematic, yet there are plenty of ways to close the gap between how much Washington spends and how much it earns in revenue. Economics isn't the problem. Politics is. Republicans and Democrats seem unable to compromise on a mix of spending cuts and tax increases that will reduce Washington's need to borrow and get the federal budget under control. They can't even agree to raise the government's borrowing limit, which is necessary to keep the government functioning normally. If there's no action by early August, it will trigger severe spending cuts that could cause another recession if they last for more than a few days.